“An Open Letter Advocating for Suicide Barrier Implementation on the Taft Bridge”

“Dear PoPville,

On the night of April 13, 2022, my long-term partner, my teammate in this game we call life, my best friend- Dr. Peter Tripp– killed himself by jumping off the William Howard Taft Bridge. He was 29-years-old. His senseless and untimely death came as a complete shock to all who knew and loved him.

During my search for Peter, that night, I first spotted the police under the Taft Bridge through the bars of the suicide barrier on the Ellington Bridge. A jogger had found him, the police found the jogger, and I found the police.

Peter had left the house with an old license, but the police weren’t able to identify him from it. I wanted to see him, to confirm his identity, but they wouldn’t let me. The policeman keeping me from getting closer to him said I should remember him how he was…I can only imagine how battered Peter must have been, how distorted he must have looked. I’ll never know if I should be grateful for this “small mercy” the policeman thought he was giving me.

This is just one of many questions that will never be answered. Questions I shouldn’t have to ask.

After diplomat Ben Read successfully implemented a barrier on the Ellington Bridge in the wake of losing his daughter in 1986, the Taft was supposed to be next. However, with elections looming, Mayor Marion Barry halted the completion of the Taft Bridge barrier, and it remains unprotected, to this day.

I know Peter’s decision to take his own life was impulsive. The majority of suicide attempts are. Since adding the suicide barrier to the Ellington in 1987, only two people have successfully scaled it and jumped to their deaths. Many argued that with the Ellington barrier in place, the suicide rate on the Taft would increase, but it did not. The overall suicide rate in DC has actually steadily declined since that time. This evidence speaks to studies showing that barriers are an effective way of preventing suicide by bridge-jumping. It cuts through the impulse, and it does not increase attempts on surrounding bridges. Peter may very well still be here, today, if Mayor Barry had not abruptly halted barrier implementation on the Taft, in favor of preserving a bridge has facilitated the deaths of many.

Peter was the best person I’ve ever met. He would have been the best person you have ever met, too, if given the chance. I will spend the rest of my life trying to keep the world as good of a place as it would be if he was still in it. With the help of Commissioner Janell Pagats, I hope to honor Peter’s memory and save lives by advocating for implementing a suicide barrier on the Taft Bridge and any other DC bridge at risk of killing another person who is in pain and suffering, both locally and through the Barriers to Suicide Act. Another suicide attempt occurred on the Taft just one month after Peter died. I will never stop working toward this goal. With two resolutions having passed to emphasize community support in the neighborhoods surrounding the bridge, the issue will now be brought to DC City Council, where we will fight the red tape and the historical societies, to make this barrier a reality.

If any reader is able to share their connection to a media contact, anyone at DDOT, or the DC City Council Members or Mayor Bowser, please reach out to [email protected].

With Gratitude,

Chelsea”

Ed. Note: Anyone experiencing a mental health, substance use, or suicidal crisis can dial 988 for support.